


Slow and Soft

by books_and_music



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Fluffiness, I actually didn't procrastinate too much on this, M/M, POV Andrew Minyard, Softness, Uh. I am. Very sorry, so uh. make sure you read them, the warnings are in the notes, this is just fluff, with a bit of Angst, yeah that's pretty much it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-10
Updated: 2020-11-10
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:14:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27492511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/books_and_music/pseuds/books_and_music
Summary: Andrew. Neil. Softness.(that's it, that's the summary)
Relationships: Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard
Comments: 6
Kudos: 125
Collections: Works by Fellow Exy Junkies





	Slow and Soft

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ShadowFist16](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadowFist16/gifts).



> Warnings: language, mentions of scars, nightmares, panic attack, mentions of blood, knives, and violence, Andrew thinking about killing someone (what else is new tho)
> 
> The blood, knives, violence, and implied panic attack are because of a nightmare Neil has, so I’ll mark the beginning and ending of that section with this symbol oOoOo, in case you wanted to skip that section. If I missed any warnings/you want me to mark a bigger section, do let me know!

Once Andrew and Neil had come home from another day (well, night) of Exy practice they both quickly showered, changed and then sat on the bed and watched a movie on Andrew’s computer. Ever since Neil had revealed that he had never watched any movies, Allison had emailed all of the Foxes a list of all the movies that Neil had to watch. They were slowly making their way through it but definitely weren’t close to finishing.

It had become a ritual of sorts. On the weekends, they’d go to Exy practice, do some studying, smoke on the roof until it was time for night practice, and after Neil and Kevin were done being junkies for Exy and running themselves into the ground for the fucking sport, Neil and him would come home and they would watch a movie together until one of them, (usually Neil) drifted off. Andrew supposed that it certainly wasn’t that worst ritual to have, made better by the fact that it was tolerable.

Once he had finished showering, he went back into the bedroom to find Neil in his room hovering uncomfortably by the bed. The idiot still was unsure whether he could stay, even after all this time. Andrew shot him a flat look and told him to stay.

To anyone else, they probably would have been hurt by his callous tone, but Neil understood that the fact that Andrew was even able to admit that he wanted someone or something out loud, was monumental. And because Neil understood, he just gave Andrew his soft smile that made his stomach flutter and curl in itself at the same time, and settled on the bed.

Andrew started playing the next movie on the list- some love movie he couldn't be bothered to remember the name of that somehow managed to be both generic and cheesy at the same time. Not even half an hour into the movie, Neil had fallen asleep. Shaking his head quitely, he put his laptop away and joined Neil under the covers, their intertwined hands their only point of contact.

oOoOo

A sudden thrashing under the sheets next to him had him jolting awake, his eyes immediately zeroing in on the source. Once he saw that it was Neil he relaxed minutely, but tensed up immediately once he realized how much he was thrashing and whimpering.

Before he could consider how to wake him up without sending him spiraling, Neil shot up with a panicked look, his eyes darting around the room, a look that Andrew knew too well. It was the look on his face that the idiot always got right before he was about to run. So he leaned forward and placed his hand on the back of Neil’s neck. Not so hard that it felt suffocating, but with enough pressure for him to feel it. He had figured out early on in their… whatever this was, that it was the most effective technique to get Neil to calm down and lessen the intensity of his panic attacks.

Once Neil’s breathing evened out and his eyes started to actually focus on things in the room instead of seeming to look right through them, Andrew gave him a glass of water from the nightstand he kept there for this exact purpose, while quietly stroking his hair after the tiny nod of acquiesce from Neil. 

“Care to talk about what caused that particular reaction?” Andrew asked, making sure to keep his voice flat. He had noticed that Neil seemed to take comfort in his apathy, especially when talking about his past or nightmares.

“I-it was Lol- her” Neil whispered, “sh-she was coming after me wi-with a knife a-and I- I tried to run away. B-but I couldn’t move because sh-she had t-tied me up”. His breath was starting to come faster now, in what Andrew recognized as an oncoming panic attack, so he leaned forward and placed his hand on the redhead’s neck. 

Neil shot him a tiny, grateful mockery of a smile before taking a quiet breath and continuing.

“A-and then she s-started t-to cut me up. A-and ‘Drew th-there was so much blood a-and she kept saying that-” he broke off again, seemingly unable to continue.

This time, Andrew didn’t push him, just used one of his hands to rub tiny circles on Neil’s back and drew him closer, leaning forward slightly. Neil met him halfway, like he probably always would and they just sat there, for a few moments, their foreheads and hands pressing together just sharing each other’s breath and staring at each other, their knees brushing together slightly while Andrew continued to draw small circles on Neil’s back.

Andrew silently reminded himself that that horrid woman was in jail and that murder while useful in some cases was not the smartest choice here. He’d probably end up in jail if he tried to kill her, separated from Aaron and Nicky. Seperated from Neil.

After a bit, Neil finally laid back down, albeit a bit more tightly curled then before, his head resting near Andrew’s legs.

And if Andrew continued stroking his hair even once Neil was asleep, then that was no one’s business but his own.

oOoOo

Andrew’s eyes flew open at the feeling of a warm body next to him, half of his body tensing, ready for a fight. Once he registered the shock of red hair and the hand still intertwined with his though, he relaxed.

As much as Andrew reprimanded Neil for staring, he was as guilty of it as Neil was, not that he would ever admit it.

But really, how could he not? Neil was just unfairly attractive, especially in the morning. His hair, mussed from sleep was illuminated by the sun, looked like it was threaded through with tendrils of flame and his tan skin had a slightly goldish hue as well. The scars on his face were stark too, giving his face a slightly defiant look. Just then, Neil’s eyes opened and if his hair was tendrils of flame, then his eyes were an inferno. Blue as the sky, with as much intensity as a wildfire. 

And the idiot was looking at Andrew with what he would call reverence. How dare he look at him like that? Like- like he was worth something and that Neil saw every scar hurt he had ever gone through, had peeled back every single one of his scarred, iron layers to examine his core and hadn’t found a single imperfection. In any of it.

Andrew averted his eyes before he did something stupid, like kiss the look off of Neil’s face. Instead he told him in a flat tone that brooked absolutely no argument that if he got out of bed at the ass-crack of dawn to run 7 miles he was going to burn all of his running and Exy gear.

Neil, nonplussed, had just barked a bright peal of laughter and snuggled deeper under the covers, closing his eyes once more.

Andrew supposed that this definitely wasn’t the worst way to wake up or spend the day, before following Neil’s example (for once it was a good one) and snuggling deeper under the covers, closing his eyes.

And if they stayed in bed until 1 pm when Kevin roused them by barging into the room and lecturing them well… no one was going to mention it again.

**Author's Note:**

> For any other questions/concerns come yell at me on my Tumblr @b00kworm have a good day/morning/evening


End file.
